Purchases from $.01 to $9,999.99
Purchases within these dollar limits shall be made at the discretion of the Department. No additional supporting documentation or competitive pricing is required other than a written quote which shall be retained for audit purposes.
Purchases from $10,000.00 to $49,999.99
Purchases within these dollar limits require three (3) written quotes when possible; see Section 3.2.2 regarding Director of Procurement discretion to increase limit per TCA § 12-3-1212;
Purchases $50,000.00 and above
Purchases in this category shall require sealed bids to be taken after public advertisement.
Be aware that a purchase transaction cannot be divided into multiple (smaller dollar) requisitions for the purpose of circumventing the process and documentation standards. The Purchasing Department is authorized to reject any requisition which appears to be artificially divided so as to avoid these rules.
Quotes
A written quotation should contain the vendor’s current contact information including, but not limited to, mailing address for the purchase order, remittance address for payment and a quotation or proforma reference number. If applicable, a Board approved contract or Board approved purchasing cooperative’s contract should be referenced.
Quotations secured from vendors under contract with any of the co-op’s must reference the agency & the contract number.